Disneyland

Jolly Trolley

January 1993 - Some Time in 2005?

The wait for this attraction was often much longer than the time it would take to walk the length of its short track. On busy days, it would actually be more time efficient to crawl across Toon Town than stand in line for the ride. To all observers it was obvious that Toon Town seriously needed to rethink its public transportation policy.

For a while, Disney tried to solve the problem by deterring riders. Signs were posted advising guests to go elsewhere for entertainment. The Trolley's seats were removed and guests were packed in, standing room only. The vehicle's wheels were mounted on industrial-strength springs so that for each foot it moved forward riders were subjected to dozens of tooth-shattering bounces. All to no avail. The Jolly Trolley continued to be a popular mode of transportation.

That was when something strange happened. One morning, Toontown opened and the Jolly Trolley wasn't there. Guests were told stories about it being refurbished, or that it was sitting behind the scenes because Toontown's streets were just too crowded that day. But the more stories were told, the more obvious it became that something sinister was afoot.

Indeed, private investigators -- hired by a group of concerned annual passholders -- discovered nothing more than an empty stall in the Toontown Trolley Barn. Tellingly, the barn's floor bore telltale skid marks and splinters of gaily painted would could be found here and there. Nobody knows what happened to the Jolly Trolley, or if they do they aren't saying. All we know is that there are rumors -- rumors about the ice at Arrowhead Pond that is never allowed to melt, and of ice hockey teams that report a sad, far-away, but eerily jolly dinging of a bell coming from beneath the ice.

Trivia: Under the right conditions, the trolley was capable of accelerating at 32 feet per second.